Robin Key Landscape Architecture

Robin Key Landscape Architecture selected Carmine Street as their Minds in the Gutter site for its historical hydrologic significance to the island of Manhattan. An overlay of a 1609 Townsend MacCoun map of Manhattan reveals Minetta Creek as it once flowed south and west along the modern day Carmine Street eventually entering a tidal wetland on the banks of the Hudson River.

Minetta Creek Revisited aims to restore elements of the natural hydrological system that once existed on Carmine Street. Using a matrix of load bearing modular structures that create voids for uncompacted soils below sections of the sidewalk and street, rainwater is captures, filtered and recharged locally.